Darwin
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Sun 30 Sep 2012 11:21
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This is the hottest place we have been with
temperatures of 34 degrees day and night.
Darwin has a great swimming pool with a wave
machine as swimming in the sea is not advisable---crocs, jelly fish and sea
snakes abound!
 This is a city, smaller than Plymouth, with
sprawling suburbs of retail and commercial parks that stretch into the outback.
It was heavily bombed by the Japanese in 1942 about ten days after Pearl
Harbour and then suffered a lot of damage when hit by a cyclone in 1974.
Architectural merit is at a premium!
The marina is close to the Dinah Beach Cruising
Yacht Association which runs the Darwin to Ambon (Indonesia) race every year.
 There is also the Darwin Sailing Club, or
perhaps more accurately social club, overlooking Fannie Bay. Very active
but an exposed anchorage
  A street/beach market is held every Thursday
evening and Sunday at Mindel Beach
  We hired a car to go the ''Aboriginal experience''
at a billabong where we were given a two hour talk and demonstration about their
clan culture.
  The billabong was inhabited by a large crocodile
who did not make a guest appearance----thankfully!
 We have been amazed by the sheer size of this
country and how small the cities have been, but the population is only 22
million! The Australian dollar is very strong and everything is about one and a
half times the cost in England. Roll on Indonesia!
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